Summary

A fascinating and highly accessible history of science from the Renaissance to the present.

From the revolutionary discoveries of Galileo and Newton to the mind-bending theories of Einstein and Heisenberg, from plate tectonics to particle physics, from the origin of life to universal entropy, and from biology to cosmology, here is a sweeping, readable, and dynamic account of the whole of Western science.

In the approachable manner and method of Stephen Jay Gould and Carl Sagan, the late Brian L. Silver translates our most important, and often most obscure, scientific developments into a vernacular that is not only accessible and illuminating but also enjoyable. Silver makes his comprehensive case with much clarity and insight; his book aptly locates science as the apex of human reason, and reason as our best path to the truth. For all readers curious about--or else perhaps intimidated by--what Silver calls "the scientific campaign up to now", The Ascent of Science will be fresh, vivid, and fascinating reading.

Author Bio

Silver, Brian L. :

Brian L. Silver was Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Techion, or Institute of Technology, in Israel. He died in 1997, just prior to the publication of this book.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Preface Introduction

1. Newton Gets It Completely Wrong 2. I Believe 3. Thomas Aquinas versus Neil Armstrong 4. The Second Law 5. Predicting Catastrophe 6. From Newton to De Sade: The partial Triumph of Reason 7. From Rousseau to Blake: The Revolt against Reason 8. Lodestone, Amber, and Lightning 9. Belief and Action 10. The Demise of Alchemy 11. The Nineteenth Century 12. The Material Trinity: The Atom 13. The Stuff of Existence 14. Scipio's Dream 15. Making Waves 16. The Ubiquity of Motion 17. Energy 18. Entropy: Intimations of Mortality 19. Chaos 20. The Slow Birth of Biology 21. In a Monastery Garden 22. Evolution 23. The Descent of Man 24. The Gene Machine 25. The Lords of Nature? 26. Life: The Molecular Battle 27. The Origin of Life? Take Your Choice 28. The Inexplicable Quantum 29. New Ways of Thinking 30. The Land of Paradox 31. The Elementary Particles 32. Relativity 33. Cosmology 34. The Cosmos and Peeping Tom 35. The Impossibility of Creation 36. The Tree of Death 37. "What the Devil Does It All Mean?" 38. The Future

A fascinating and highly accessible history of science from the Renaissance to the present.

From the revolutionary discoveries of Galileo and Newton to the mind-bending theories of Einstein and Heisenberg, from plate tectonics to particle physics, from the origin of life to universal entropy, and from biology to cosmology, here is a sweeping, readable, and dynamic account of the whole of Western science.

In the approachable manner and method of Stephen Jay Gould and Carl Sagan, the late Brian L. Silver translates our most important, and often most obscure, scientific developments into a vernacular that is not only accessible and illuminating but also enjoyable. Silver makes his comprehensive case with much clarity and insight; his book aptly locates science as the apex of human reason, and reason as our best path to the truth. For all readers curious about--or else perhaps intimidated by--what Silver calls "the scientific campaign up to now", The Ascent of Science will be fresh, vivid, and fascinating reading.

1. Newton Gets It Completely Wrong 2. I Believe 3. Thomas Aquinas versus Neil Armstrong 4. The Second Law 5. Predicting Catastrophe 6. From Newton to De Sade: The partial Triumph of Reason 7. From Rousseau to Blake: The Revolt against Reason 8. Lodestone, Amber, and Lightning 9. Belief and Action 10. The Demise of Alchemy 11. The Nineteenth Century 12. The Material Trinity: The Atom 13. The Stuff of Existence 14. Scipio's Dream 15. Making Waves 16. The Ubiquity of Motion 17. Energy 18. Entropy: Intimations of Mortality 19. Chaos 20. The Slow Birth of Biology 21. In a Monastery Garden 22. Evolution 23. The Descent of Man 24. The Gene Machine 25. The Lords of Nature? 26. Life: The Molecular Battle 27. The Origin of Life? Take Your Choice 28. The Inexplicable Quantum 29. New Ways of Thinking 30. The Land of Paradox 31. The Elementary Particles 32. Relativity 33. Cosmology 34. The Cosmos and Peeping Tom 35. The Impossibility of Creation 36. The Tree of Death 37. "What the Devil Does It All Mean?" 38. The Future

Summary

A fascinating and highly accessible history of science from the Renaissance to the present.

From the revolutionary discoveries of Galileo and Newton to the mind-bending theories of Einstein and Heisenberg, from plate tectonics to particle physics, from the origin of life to universal entropy, and from biology to cosmology, here is a sweeping, readable, and dynamic account of the whole of Western science.

In the approachable manner and method of Stephen Jay Gould and Carl Sagan, the late Brian L. Silver translates our most important, and often most obscure, scientific developments into a vernacular that is not only accessible and illuminating but also enjoyable. Silver makes his comprehensive case with much clarity and insight; his book aptly locates science as the apex of human reason, and reason as our best path to the truth. For all readers curious about--or else perhaps intimidated by--what Silver calls "the scientific campaign up to now", The Ascent of Science will be fresh, vivid, and fascinating reading.

Author Bio

Silver, Brian L. :

Brian L. Silver was Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Techion, or Institute of Technology, in Israel. He died in 1997, just prior to the publication of this book.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Preface Introduction

1. Newton Gets It Completely Wrong 2. I Believe 3. Thomas Aquinas versus Neil Armstrong 4. The Second Law 5. Predicting Catastrophe 6. From Newton to De Sade: The partial Triumph of Reason 7. From Rousseau to Blake: The Revolt against Reason 8. Lodestone, Amber, and Lightning 9. Belief and Action 10. The Demise of Alchemy 11. The Nineteenth Century 12. The Material Trinity: The Atom 13. The Stuff of Existence 14. Scipio's Dream 15. Making Waves 16. The Ubiquity of Motion 17. Energy 18. Entropy: Intimations of Mortality 19. Chaos 20. The Slow Birth of Biology 21. In a Monastery Garden 22. Evolution 23. The Descent of Man 24. The Gene Machine 25. The Lords of Nature? 26. Life: The Molecular Battle 27. The Origin of Life? Take Your Choice 28. The Inexplicable Quantum 29. New Ways of Thinking 30. The Land of Paradox 31. The Elementary Particles 32. Relativity 33. Cosmology 34. The Cosmos and Peeping Tom 35. The Impossibility of Creation 36. The Tree of Death 37. "What the Devil Does It All Mean?" 38. The Future